America Before Pearl Harbor

Faro and Doris Caudill, homesteaders, Pie Town, New Mexico October 1940 © Russell Lee

A coworker emailed me a link to this website. It displays a collection of Kodachrome photos taken across America, all shot before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The color photos look incredibly crisp for having been taken so long ago. It's interesting to compare America then to America now. So much has changed, but the photos show that the people looked pretty much the same. I apologize for the cheesy music that plays on the site. I couldn't figure out how to turn it off. Check out a more complete collection of these photographs at the Library of Congress' flickr page.
- Joel

West Texas/Photographer of the Day

Drive In. March 2005 © Allison V. Smith

Allison V. Smith. Yep, she's been featured on here quite a few times. But she's my favorite so it's worth it. Plus, I'm going to visit my Aunt in West Texas (Odessa to be exact) this weekend, and Allison has some great pictures of another West Texas town, Marfa. The one above was actually purchased by the Dallas Museum of Art.
- Joel

Photographer of the Day

© Matt Nager

Matt Nager. And two happy ones for my sister below (both by Matt Nager).

- Joel

© Matt Nager

© Matt Nager

Views

If you're in Kansas City today, you should check this out. More details at http://www.standardsocial.com/ . Daniel, of Joel and Daniel, will even be a model in the fashion show (plus he helped put the whole thing together). It is without a doubt the premier fashion event in recent Kansas City history. It's a great night to be on a Plaza rooftop.

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

Car Fire, Interstate 40, California, 1995 © Jeff Brouws

Jeff Brouws.

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

© J. Wesley Brown

J. Wesley Brown. LA based photographer.

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

Rachel and Owl © Corey Arnold

Corey Arnold. He does a lot of work with Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel.

- Joel

Fuel City

My friend Ben Rector and I stopped by Fuel City for some tacos last Friday night. I had heard they were the best in Dallas, and possibly the best in Texas. We were not disappointed. The place has quite the atmosphere as well. Truck stop. Swimming pool. Woman selling corn (in a cup). Longhorn cattle in a pen. We both downed 5 tacos and headed to the Texas State Fair for more food and fun. The tacos were good, but the experience made them great.

- Joel

Anybody Want to Go?

There are quite a few good shows coming up in the Dallas area. Who's in?

9/29 - Iron & Wine (Sam Beam solo show) - Palladium Ballroom
9/30 - Cut Copy - Granada Theater
10/7 - Jonezetta - The Loft
10/11 - The Walkmen - House of Blues
10/21 - Girl Talk - Palladium Ballroom
10/23 - Cold War Kids - Lola's (Fort Worth)
10/28 - TV on the Radio - Lakewood Theater

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

Greeley © Andreas Gursky

Andreas Gursky. Quite a few of his photographs, including the one above, are part of the Broad Art Foundation's collection. Tiny reproductions don't do the images justice. In person, the photo above measures 82 x 103 inches. For you math majors, that's 6.8 feet tall and 8.6 feet wide. That's taller than me!

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

Smith-Corona © 2007, Cali Hobgood-Lemme

Cali Hobgood-Lemme. She takes black & white shots and then colors them in.

-Joel

Apparently Lil Wayne now blogs for ESPN The Magazine. He's from New Orleans but the Saints and Hornets are surprisingly absent from his list of his favorite teams. Check it out.

- Joel

Cut Copy

I've been meaning to get the new album by Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours, for a few months now. I was even in a record store the other day buying the new TV on the Radio album, but they didn't have any copies of Cut Copy in the store. Bummer. I'm still waiting to hear this song banging in a club, but I guess the DJ's aren't hip enough. You can listen to the track "Lights & Music" below.

- Joel

Plaza Art Fair

A few artists I saw at the Plaza Art Fair.

Jeffrey Zachmann - He made these crazy kinetic sculptures. I heard someone standing there refer to them as "Mouse Trap Art", because of the way the little balls roll all over the sculpture. He had one of the largest groups in and around his booth. Just seeing a picture doesn't do justice to what he does.

Marc Sijan - He makes the most lifelike sculptures I've ever seen. By far, he had the largest crowd gathered to see his work.

Bruce Peeso - He paints great landscapes. These probably stood out to me because they remind me of all the times I drove across Kansas as a boy. Plus, I'm a sucker for landscapes.

- Joel

New Music

Jenny Lewis dropped a new album this week. It's called Acid Tongue. I haven't bought it, but I hear her tongue isn't quite as acidic as in previous albums. But what do critics know? Here's a preview. Ben Gibbard was friendly enough to drop by Jenny's house with balloons.

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

© Meggan Gould

Meggan Gould. These are digital pinholes.

- Joel

Soccer Night

Soccer Game © Joel Thomason

Two weeks ago I tagged along with a friend to her soccer game. Basically, I sat on the sideline and took pictures (mostly bad, blurry ones) while Cobra Kai FC dominated. It was a beautiful night in Dallas, one of the few amidst a hot summer. Here's a picture. That little speck to the left of the lights is the moon.
- Joel

Plaza Art Fair

Hampson, 2007 © Frank Relle

I had a chance to catch the Plaza Art Fair this weekend in Kansas City. Shout out to Cory and Abby (my brother and sister) for hanging in there with me, along with my parents. We all braved the heat and the crowds and it was definitely worth it. I got to see/meet quite a few great photographers and artists, many of which I'll be throwing up on the blog. Probably my favorite (other than the guy who made kinetic sculpture, more on him in a future blog) was Franke Relle. He's a New Orleans based photographer that does crazy nightscapes. The lights he uses make for wild colors that give his photography a painter-like quality. We'll call him the Photographer of the Day.

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

© Amy Stein

Amy Stein. She also has some really interesting photos using taxidermied animals. Check that out here.

- Joel

Kansas City

© Joel Thomason

I'm in Kansas City for the weekend. Here are a few pictures I took with my Holga the last time I was here. More to come.
- Joel


© Joel Thomason